Little White Lies

Chapter 14

"You've got to be kidding me, right?!?" I ask after I've recovered from the shock.

"No, I'm going out of town with Mark," Mom says seeming surprised by the fact that I'm upset.

"That's the weekend of homecoming. You won't be here for my senior homecoming? Mom? Really?" She's been talking about me going to this dance ever since I told her I was going a month ago.

"Well Sawyer, it's not like I've had a vacation in years," Mom says. She isn't wrong, but this seems like really bad timing.

"So, how do you see this working? Am I just leaving Grant and Jacey home alone while I'm gone to the dance?" I ask her. There is no way I'm leaving them alone out here in the middle of no where to take care of twenty horses alone. "What if something happens? They shouldn't be here feeding alone. It's one thing when we're just inside. But alone?"

"We'll just have someone come stay with them, I guess," Mom shrugs.

"WHO?" I'm getting kind of mad. She hasn't thought this through.

"Ali," Mom says even though Ali has barely been here for the last month. Ever since she started dating Greg she's been here for our Monday hacks and our Saturday lessons but we haven't seen much more of her. She's even been let Autumn and me ride Preston some.

"Mom, Ali is going to homecoming too. Everyone I know is going," I throw my hands in the air.

It's Monday and my mother has just announced that she's leaving in two days. She and Mark have arranged to rent a beach house for a few days. Apparently they are leaving Wednesday and won't be back until late Sunday. That puts me covering lessons, trainings, and morning chores all week, while the twins will help in the evenings. Plus the homecoming game is Friday; in the past I didn't care about going but Autumn's boyfriend will be playing. Then the dance is Saturday, which means cancelling lessons all day since I have a lunch time appointment to get my hair done.

"Mom can't you go next week? The timing is just awful; especially with no notice," I try to reason with her.

"No honey. I'm sorry. This is just what's happening," Mom tells me.

"How do you possibly think I'm going to get everything done with the farm and school?" I ask.

"Have Autumn or Ali come stay for the week or something. They'll be happy to come and it'll be fun," Mom says. It's like she's trying to trick me into thinking this is fun.

"Fine. I'll ask them," I roll my eyes. "But have fun cancelling all of your daytime private lessons. There won't be anyone here to teach them," I say as I walk out of the office.

"You okay?" Autumn asks me the Wednesday morning in A.P. Chemistry.

Mr. Witt stands up to start our lecture. I quietly pull out a piece of paper and write, Just stressed out.

It's going to be fine. Yes, getting up at 5am will suck, but we'll have fun. And hey, at least we'll be hanging out all week, Autumn writes back.

That's only bright side, I smile weakly back at her as I slide the paper back towards her.

You're forgetting one :).

What? I write back confused.

Empty house. No rules. Andy and Oliver can come hang out ;) LOL.

LOL!

I can't help but think about how much easier it is to be sly about writing notes in class with Autumn. She's left handed and a while back we switched sides so that we can just leave the paper between us. Even Mr. Witt, who is the strictest teacher in school, hasn't noticed.